ANIMALS-Australasian Animal Life.

Very rare c.19th engraving of Australian zoology from the first number of the short lived Australian Newspaper, The Australian Graphic. Depicted are Platypus, Wombat, Kangaroos, dingoes and a snake framed within fern frongs.

From the original edition of The Australian Graphic.

Incredibly, this newspaper used glass for all the engraving plates which the proprietors claimed, reduced the cost by 2/3 from the traditional method of using wood engravings. They stated, that the glass plates didn’t break with the pressure of the printing press, were easy and quick for the artist to create, being able to apply their designs directly onto the glass and that the plates didn’t wear.

Only institution holds a copy; State Library of New South Wales.